Holding Hands
by AngelicBee
Summary: What happens when you and your best friend pretend to date in an effort to attract the attention of your crush? I can tell you this: It doesn't end up as you thought it would. TAANG-centric in a Modern AU.
1. Prologue

"I have an idea," Aang announced to his neighbor and long-time friend, Toph.

"Shit, I better duck for cover," Toph smirked, putting down her pencil and taking a swig from her water bottle since Aang was obviously not interested in doing homework.

Aang rolled his eyes. "Hardy har, very funny. I'm being serious though." He grabbed their math books and put them to the side, confirming Toph's suspicions that they were not getting homework done any time soon. "I'm well aware of your crush on Sokka-"

"Wait-"

"-as I'm sure you're aware of my crush on Katara," Aang continued while ignoring her protests. "Frankly, I'm tired of little hints and I'd like to take more drastic measures."

Toph was a little bugged that Aang would spring the news of his knowledge of her crush so suddenly, but she was also interested in whatever idea he might have. She sighed, "Go on."

"See, because we're younger, they don't really notice how much we mean to them. Something needs to happen where they realize their feelings for us."

"Aang, that implies they _have_ feelings for us. Don't pretend that Sokka isn't one step away from asking Suki out or Katara is one note in class away from telling Zuko how she feels."

Aang and Toph had many similarities when it came to interests and humor, but there was one obvious difference that influenced the most of their arguments: Aang was an idealist and Toph was a realist. Well, Aang preferred to call himself an "optimist" and her a "pessimist." In theory, Aang's ideas sounded great, but in practice, they faltered early in the process.

She could already tell that whatever this plan was, it was going to be similar. Aang liked to pretend Zuko didn't exist when it came to Katara, even though everyone else could tell the two were dancing around the line of becoming the couple that was so in love, it made you sick. Toph knew her crush on Sokka was unrealistic at least. He was two years older than her and had been flirting with another Junior for the past couple of months. He saw Toph as a little sister.

Aang refused to understand her logic. And now, this pattern was continuing as Aang shook his head in disagreement with Toph. "Toph, you come up with roadblocks that aren't there. If they're not _dating_ yet, they're not _serious_ yet. And I'm betting it's because she also has feelings for me that she doesn't even realize are there… And, uh, the same goes for you and Sokka."

"Yeah, yeah. Say what you want, just get on with the plan." The freshman knew she had nothing else to lose.

Aang surprised her by grabbing her hand, looking into her eyes, and asking her, "Toph, would you go out with me?"

The girl immediately rejected him, probably in a grander response than she needed. Toph snatched her had back with such force that she pushed herself and her chair. She ended up toppling over and found herself on the floor. "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

" _Toph_ , we have to make them _jealous_ ," Aang explained, not moving to help his friend up from the ground. "Think about it. In all the books and movies, once their love interest starts becoming involved with someone else, they become jealous and realize their true feelings for them." It was as though the young boy had hearts in his eyes.

"Oh my god…" Toph rubbed her nose, trying to make sense of the gibberish her best friend seemed to be spitting out. "Aang, are you drunk because I'm seriously concerned. First, you accuse me of having a crush on Sokka-"

"I don't drink, Toph, and don't pull that with me." Aang rolled his eyes. "You'd have to be blind, or _Sokka,_ to not see that you're head over heels for him."

"You make me sound like a girl…"

"So do you want to do it or not?"

Toph thought it over. "I'd have to date you?" She grabbed the beat up water bottle from the desk to take another sip.

"Not for real, but for show, yeah."

"How long are we talking?"

"Depends on how stubborn they are."

Toph weighed her options in her head. There weren't really many negatives other than the plan being a massive failure, but there wasn't as much embarrassment as admitting her feelings straight, which is the route she normally would have taken if she thought she had a chance. On the plus, her mother would stop accusing her of being gay even though she was only _fifteen_ and without a boyfriend.

"Everyone already thinks we're dating anyway, so why not?" Toph shrugged, finally getting up from the ground.

Aang began to reach for their math books again, but stopped when he processed what she said. "Everyone thinks we're dating?"

"We spend every waking moment together, Aang. I'm pretty sure you know where the tampons are in my mom's bathroom and I think I can recite the rosary just from hearing you say it so much over the years."

The tips of Aang's ears reddened as he realized. "I guess all that time together would make some people think that, huh?"

"No, duh… Open to page 45, boyfriend."

* * *

 **So this is about how long every chapter is going to be, a little more than 800 words. There's about 17 chapters including the prologue and the epilogue. And it's about Toph and Aang fake-dating in an effort to capture the attention of Sokka and Katara respectively... and well, you know how those ideas always end up. Anyway, it gets a lot more dramatic than I thought it would.  
**

 **Just be warned, I spit all of this out in a 1-2 week period with little editing or planning. It's probably going to be _really_ bad. I hope to one day come back to it and rewrite it, but for once I have a finished multi-chapter story! I plan to update with a new chapter every two or three days (depending on if I remember or not). **

**I have a whole bunch of other Taang/Zutara story ideas in the works and hopefully I'll update my profile with them as soon as I post this. Please feel free to review and tell me your honest feelings on this story! I would love to know how I can improve since this is my writing in its almost rawest form. Thank you so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

**I received such nice reviews last chapter! Thank you! I'm just afraid I'm going to disappoint you. The characters do get a little OOC in my opinion and I know pacing is a problem I have, so... just be warned!**

* * *

"Tophy, is _that_ what you're going to wear to school?" Poppy Bei Fong asked her daughter with a small amount of irritation in her voice.

Toph didn't move an inch from watching the video on Aang's phone. "Yeah. You'd never believe it but skulls are all the rage today." Her voice was thick with sarcasm. She reached over to the water bottle in her back pack and drank a few gulps of water.

Aang glanced nervously between the girl and her mother. They seemed to have a tense conversation like this one every time they carpooled with Toph's parents. The disapproval from Toph's mother was nothing though when compared to the disappointment that seemed to radiate off Lao Bei Fong.

The mother tsk'ed. "You use to be such an obedient girl. What happened to the pretty floral dresses I bought you?"

"God willing, they're being eaten by moths in the back of my closet." She slipped the faded pink bottle back into her back pack.

Poppy sighed and gave up. She didn't say anything again until she stopped the car in front of their high school and wished the both of them a good day at school.

"So what do we do?" Aang whispered to Toph as soon as they stepped out of her mom's car.

"It's your plan! Are you telling me you thought of nothing other than the concept?" When Aang didn't answer, Toph rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. "We literally just act natural, but we… touch each other more, I guess."

Aang nodded in agreement, tightening his grip on her hand before they walked into the school.

It was a little unnerving that no one seemed to be surprised. The most people would do was glance and pass on as though it were something _normal._ Granted, Aang didn't actually know most of these people, but was no one surprised at the idea of he and Toph dating?

"Well, Sugar Queen is already at her locker if you're ready to test drive this dating thing."

"I don't know… We haven't discussed anything about what to say if someone asks about it," Aang gulped.

Toph laughed. "Come on, Aang, it's easy. What's my favorite sex position?"

"What?" Aang freaked as Toph cackled even more.

"Just know I'd want to be in control," she informed him as she dragged him over to Katara's locker.

"Oh, hey Toph! Hey, Aang," the older girl smiled at the both of them, closing the locker door to talk to them.

"Hey, Katara! How was your weekend?" Toph was operating with a smoothness that Aang would never be able to achieve in life, let alone while having to pretend that they were dating. He had no idea how to _act normal_ anymore, while Toph looked as though this were the most comfortable thing she could be doing right now. Aang could feel himself sweat as he tried to listen to their conversation, continually blanking over what to do. Luckily, Toph was prepared to cover for the both of them. Not missing a beat in her conversation, Toph slyly grabbed Aang's hand to put his arm around her waist.

Katara noticed these new interactions. Changing the subject from whatever they were talking about, she asked, "Are you guys... dating?"

"Well, we haven't really gone on a date yet, but Aang asked me yesterday," Toph lied.

Katara fawned. "Aww, that's so cute of you, Aang. I think you guys will be a cute couple."

Aang brightened _Yes. She thinks I'm cute_ , he thought.

On the other hand, Toph brooded. _Damn._ _She's still looking at him like he's a kid._

"Actually," Aang finally got the courage to jump in and continue with the act, "why don't we set the date for tonight, Toph? You and Sokka could come along, Katara."

"You want me and… my brother to come?" Katara asked, an eyebrow immediately raised.

Toph had to resist the urge to rub her temples. He had been silent the entire time, but he hadn't spent a second thinking about what he was going to say?

Despite Toph's worries, Katara laughed. "Yeah, I'll ask him if he wants to hang out tonight. It might actually be a good way to start dating."

"Sounds like a plan! I'll text you the details," Toph smiled, tugging Aang away before he could make the situation anymore awkward.

The moment they were in the clear, Toph took her hand back. "Holy shit, my hands are sweaty. How do couples do that all the time?"

Aang shrugged, only half listening to her. "They just love to touch each other. They'd do anything to be near each other." The heart eyes were back.

"Ugh," Toph shook her head. "Way to go back there, lover boy. I always like to attract my potential girlfriends by offering to go on a double date with her brother."

"What?" He snapped out of it. "Katara wouldn't have taken it like that. Everything went great!" Aang waved off her complaints. "Once she knew we were dating, she felt compelled to spend more time with me for reasons unknown to her."

Without being able to help it, Toph snorted. It was amusing (and a bit irritating) how far into dreamland he was in.

"It's not funny! It's psychological! You would know if you had taken the class with me this year…" Aang huffed.

She rolled her eyes. "I'd much rather beat down some dunderheads with dodge balls than learn why people fall in love. How'd I get stuck with such a pansy as my best friend?"

"We live next door to each other."

"Once again, how did that happen? My dad's a rich business mogul."


	3. Chapter 2

**Oof, chapter 3 and we're diving headfirst into the drama. Also a lot of language in this chapter (just be warned all around).  
**

* * *

"Hey! Thanks for coming over, guys!" Aang opened his front door, letting the siblings walk in. Toph was already setting up the movie and the pizzas were on their way. It was almost exactly what Aang had envisioned: a dark room that could mean touching and brushing 'on accident' without anyone else noticing. Yeah, Toph had no idea what he was really thinking was going to happen.

Sokka gave Aang a quick hug as he said passively, "I hope you don't mind that I invited a couple other people."

On cue, there was another knock on the door. Aang opened the door to see Zuko standing there with his hands in his pockets and Suki with a bottle of soda. "I brought Orange Blast!" She announced before giving Aang a quick peck on the cheek and putting the soda down by the other bottle.

"That wasn't what we planned…" Aang tried to process what was happening as he shut the door behind Zuko. This was the exact situation Aang needed to not happen if he was to win over Katara!... and Toph to win over Sokka!

"Well, it didn't exactly seem fair that this be a double date without me and Katara having dates," Sokka shrugged. "But now it's a triple date!"

This idea was obviously new to Katara and Zuko as well as the pair began blushing, exclaiming in unison, "Date?"

"Yeah," Sokka confirmed. He looked at their exasperated faces and shrugged. "Or you guys cannot be dates, whatever. I just took it upon myself to make sure you weren't alone, Katara, since Suki and I are officially an item now." To accentuate his point, he put his arm around his new girlfriend.

"You couldn't have asked my opinion?" Katara responded angrily.

"Or mine?" Zuko concurred.

 _They didn't like the idea of dating each other!_ Aang shivered in delight. Not only was it a good sign that Zuko was responding negatively to this, but Katara was practically _enraged_ her brother had put this burden on her. Things were going very nicely for Aang so far.

"Hey, Aang?" Toph called him, snatching him away from his daydream of his married life. He realized now that his 'girlfriend' had walked into his kitchen at some point. "Can you come here? I want to figure out what we're going to do about food."

"Two more people isn't that much. We ordered two pizzas," Aang responded without moving from his spot.

"Just come here!"

Sokka whistled. "Yikes. First lesson in dating, man, make the girl happy for the first few months before actually doing things _you_ want."

Aang didn't see- since he was walking into the kitchen-, but both Suki and Katara glared at Sokka for his comment. ("What?" he had responded innocently).

"Toph, did you hear? She was _furious_ that Sokka assumed she would want to date Zuko," Aang whispered happily, practically bouncing on his feet.

The girl didn't respond. She had been facing away from Aang, looking down into the sink. It was only now that Aang realized she was shaking. Something was wrong.

"Toph?" He approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't fling his hand away as she normally would have. Instead, she told him, "I'm such a _fucking_ loser. How can I be this upset when I didn't even try to tell him how I felt?"

Now he realized. Sokka had announced that he and Suki were dating. And Aang offered to do this whole act to mutually benefit the both of them. Truthfully, of course, he was only thinking about he and Katara's relationship for the future, but that mattered very little on Toph's side.

"I feel like a goddamn _idiot_ for thinking he would notice me just because I held hands with someone I've held hands with _all my life_. _"_ Out of nowhere, Toph slammed her fist down onto the counter in an attempt to let out her anger before she started causing real destruction. _"Fuck!"_

A drop of blood fell on the floor before she could hold the wound. Aang felt his heart lurch in sympathy. He could tell Toph was even trying hard to stay strong, but it wouldn't be long before she might start breaking down. Toph Bei Fong didn't break down often in front of anyone.

Without a word, Aang grabbed the First Aid kit from the cabinet. He carefully took her hand and began to attend to it. Toph continued to look down at the sink, ashamed that he had to see her acting like this.

"You know," Aang began, trying to think of something that could cheer her up for the night. "It's really not too late."

Toph rolled her eyes, making a point to show him how _done_ she was with his hopes and dreams. "Don't give that bullshit, Aang. I'm not going to think the same as you… I just need to move on…."

He nodded, trying to find another bright side. "Alright then, move on. If you really like him that much, wouldn't the next best thing be seeing him happy with someone you know is a good person?" He started to wrap gauze around her hand.

Toph stared down at their bare feet now, not wanting to reply yet because she knew he was right. That _would_ be the next best thing. But it wasn't the same as _the_ best thing.

Aang finished with the bandage and let go of her hand, which Toph let drift slowly back down to her side.

"Are you going to be OK?" He asked. As much as he didn't want to, he also offered, "I can tell them the night is off."

She shook her head. "No… I just…" She surprised him by launching herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

A hug.

She wanted support from him and Aang gladly took the job. The pair was silent for a while, content in the embrace and listening to the group of friends shouting just on the other side of the wall.

Quietly, Toph admitted her feelings to him, "I know Suki will be good for him... but why couldn't it be me?" Aang felt warm drops of water on his shoulder. There were many at once, as though she was keeping all of it in but could no longer control it after she started speaking.

It was only recently that Aang realized his friend had been harboring a crush on Sokka, but it wasn't until now that he realized just how _long_ she must have had feelings for him. Of course, Toph was capable of feelings, but it was unusual how hard this was hitting her, especially in front of someone (even if it was her best friend).

Whatever it was, he was glad Toph was comfortable confiding in him.

"God must have another plan for you," he said to her as he stroked her raven hair.


	4. Chapter 3

"This is a bigger party than I was told there would be," Aang's adoptive father said from the living room once the two left the kitchen. Gyatso had been a close family friend and taken Aang in after his parents' deaths when he was a tyke. To Aang, Gyatso was his father. He sometimes felt bad that he didn't feel anything when he was showed photos of his parents (other than wonder of what-might-have-been), but he also made sure to pray they were doing well whenever he had the chance.

"Sorry, Dad. Sokka invited two other people." Aang nervously smiled, scratching the back of his head.

Gyatso gave him a stern look (scaring the crud out of never-been-in-trouble-before Aang) before his face completely changed and he laughed. "Just don't be up too late. It's a school night." He waved before walking out of the room. Aang exhaled. _That was a relief._

"Yeah, my dad wants us home by 9:30," Katara said to them. She glanced nervously at the clock; it was 7:16. "Do you mind if we start the movie now?"

"No problem," Toph grabbed the remote, accidentally showing off her bloody bandage.

Sokka was the first one to notice. "Whoa! What happened there?"

Toph blushed, moving her hand behind her back so no one else could see it. She was too late, of course. "It's nothing. Just an accident."

"How do you accidentally get a cut on the side of your hand?" Katara worried. She got up to look at her hand, but Toph kept her hand out of reach from the older teenager.

"A kitchen has a lot of sharp utensils, ok? I accidentally cut myself," she told her, obviously irritated by the unnecessary attention.

The others looked to Aang for confirmation and he could do nothing but nod. There was still a tense silence in the room as Toph started the movie and everyone settled down to watch. No one seemed to really believe that was what had happened, but what other explanation was there? She slammed her fist in anger so hard on the counter that it cut open? That idea wasn't exactly at the top of their lists of the possibilities.

As though to prove a point to her brother that she was not interested in Zuko, Katara sat down on the arm chair, leaving no room for anyone else to sit next to her. Sokka and Suki sat on one side of the couch with Suki leaning on her boyfriend. Zuko sat on the other end, looking a bit socially awkward (which was probably because Zuko was obviously socially awkward).

There wasn't much room between Suki and Zuko, so Toph and Aang (grudgingly) settled on sitting on the floor in front of the space. Toph found her self sitting nect to Suki's leg and Katara's choice of seat seemed to ruin Aang's idea of "accidentally touching" at some point in the night. Unless, Aang felt the urge to stroke Zuko's leg.

The night wasn't very exciting with the most action occurring when everyone showed up earlier and when the pizza arrived (Sokka ate almost an entire one on his own, to which Toph remarked they should have ordered another one).

The entire night Aang had a difficult time watching the movie. He had limited knowledge on what the movie was even about. Earlier, Toph had said she related to the main character, who was blind and relied on some special powers to see through vibrations. It was something Aang would normally watch on a Saturday night with his father and Toph, but there was something that took his attention away from it.

Katara watched with the movie with an intent that most people didn't bother to. But Aang noticed how she furrowed her brow when something important was happening and responded to the scenes by mimicking reactions of the characters on her face. She was very emotional, he could see. Very passionate.

At some point after the movie started, Toph whispered to him that she was going to go the bathroom. He noticed her grab her backpack from beside the front door before heading into the restroom. The boy didn't recall seeing her come back (probably because he was so focused on watching Katara watch the movie), but, 20 minutes from the end, a foreign object fell onto his shoulder.

Aang looked to see it was, in fact, his best friend's head. Toph had completely passed out. She had seemed so excited about watching this movie, but now she was sleeping from boredom? It seemed very unlikely, especially with Sokka's seemingly never-ending giggles at whatever was happening on-screen (be it funny or sad) and Suki's quiet scolds.

However, after recovering from the initial shock of how trusting Toph was being with him that night, Aang relaxed and set his own head on top of hers, finally watching the movie.

Against all odds, the blind superhero had saved the day.

* * *

 **That was the end of pizza night! You know, I'm really wondering where most of my writing takes place because I have 17 chapters and it seems every event takes two. What the heck did I have writtten? Sorry, nothing happened this chapter, but (trust me) shit will go down.**


	5. Chapter 4

"Hey, Twinkletoes!" Toph rapidly knocked at the door. "You ready yet?"

"Toph! I'm showering!" He shouted back.

Toph huffed and leaned her back against the door. She didn't want to have to deal with her parents that morning -since she actually never came home the last night-, so she was trying to hurry Aang to finish before her mother (or even more frighteningly, her father) came over to yell at her. She was lucky it was Gyatso's turn to drive them today.

Toph walked back into Aang's room. Her side of the bed was still a mess. Aang had apparently guided her to his bedroom after the movie ended, but she didn't remember any of it. She could only guess the fight she had made just to get into an actual bed, let alone try to get her to walk back to her house (even if it was next door). She also felt a bit embarrassed that she had left Aang to say goodbye and walk everyone else out, while she was probably sleeping like a lump on _the floor_.

All Toph really knew of what happened the night before was she had tried to watch the movie, but continued to bury herself in her thoughts, as though she were Aang. She settled on being by herself in the bathroom for probably way longer than she should have… That's where she had lost the rest of her memory of the night. Eventually, she figured, she drifted off to sleep and woke up the next morning tangled in Aang's bed sheets. The other side was neatly folded and Aang was nowhere to be found.

She founded her stash of stuff under her bed and gotten dressed, but Aang was still showering.

"Hurry up!" She shouted again. The water finally stopped and a few minutes later, Aang stepped out fully dressed along with a cloud of steam.

"I'm done. You happy now?"

She nodded, pushing her way past him, to grab a toothbrush and start brushing her teeth.

"Toph… that's mine…" He sighed.

She turned to look at him after spitting into the sink. "And I'm your girlfriend now?"

He raised his hands in defeat, walking away to let her do her thing. He did not, however, walk very far before his father stopped him. "Is Toph already here?" Gyatso looked over him.

"She never left. She refused to leave last night so I let her sleep here."

"… Did she say you were dating now?" Gyatso asked, trying to appear casual, but his curiosity was fairly blatant.

Aang blushed, trying to come up with a feasible excuse in a very short amount of time. "Well, y-you see… we're not _really_ dating, but everyone thinks we are," he stuttered out.

Gyatso stared at him, obviously not understanding.

"I have a crush on Katara and she has a crush on Sokka, so we're telling everyone that we're dating so that they'll be jealous," he said so fast that it almost sounded like one word.

His father narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded, processing what he said as well as he could. "Why exactly did you decide this was, uh, a _good_ idea?" Toph would have snorted if she heard him.

"How else was I supposed to get her attention?" Aang asked him.

"Katara's or Toph's?"

"Katara's!"

Gyatso nodded. "Alright. I don't believe this is going to go the way you want it to, Aang. And I'd also like you to pray a little bit with me tonight. It's been a while since we've done that together."

Aang had to resist the urge to roll his eyes in annoyance. Instead, he gave Gyatso a curt nod before his father passed by, giving Toph a little wave when he walked by the bathroom.

The girl joined Aang once again, wiping her mouth with her hand as she asked, "You guys still pray together? My nanny use to make me pray with her… until she was convinced I was actually the spawn of the devil."

"Yeah, we don't do that much together though. I just told him about our whole dating thing though and he probably thinks I'm off my spiritual path or something… He'll probably give me a speech later about how this isn't what 'God wants.'"

Toph raised her eyebrows as she grabbed her backpack from beside the front door. "This might be the first time I've seen you upset you have to do something God-related."

Aang shrugged. "I don't know. It's probably just teenage-dom, ya know? Just want to rebel a bit."

Toph snorted. "Oh trust me, bud, I know what it's like to want to rebel a bit."

* * *

 **FRIDAY NIGHT**

Aang woke up to a buzzing. He tossed around for a moment, disoriented because he couldn't understand why he was awake. Eventually, though, he grabbed his phone from his bedside table to see his best friend was calling him.

"Toph?"

" _Come to your window."_

Aang sighed and got up. He opened his window and looked down to see Toph fully dressed in what looked like something she would wear to a party. _Oh_.

" _Do you wanna rebel a little more?"_

"Toph, it's 11 at night."

" _Yeah, if we left any earlier, our parents would realize we were gone. Get dressed and come down!"_

* * *

 **Ooo! Party part 2. This seems to be going _really_ fast. I have no idea what I managed to cram into the next 13 chapters. **

**Also, if you could, I have a poll on my profile about what story I'll write next once I'm finished posting this! It would be a big help even if you have no interest in ever reading one of my stories again.**

 **Thanks so much for reading; feel free to review!**


	6. Chapter 5

He didn't know what compelled him to hang up and do as his friend asked. Perhaps he was hoping that she knew Katara and Sokka would be there. Perhaps he really did want to rebel a little bit. He felt he was a little young for the rebellion phase. In the movies, teenagers were always going out to parties in the middle of the night when they were 16, so friends had cars that could drive them. He was still a year away from that. Then again, Toph was always trying to act a little older than her actual age.

Whatever the reason was, Aang found himself grabbing his house key and walking out the door to see Toph waiting there, a beaten up truck with a pretty buff dude at the wheel.

"Toph, who is this guy?" Aang whispered to her, keeping his eyes trained at the older guy. "Is he even in high school?"

"Hardly. I'm pretty sure this is his last year or he'll be kicked out."

Aang gulped, but he had already gotten dressed and walked downstairs without trouble, why not get in the car with the teenager covered in tattoos? Oof, Toph was going to be the death of him.

On the car ride to who-knows-where, Aang had learned that this decorated individual was not the brightest and insisted that his name was Boulder. To be fair, Aang was more likely to believe that that was his name over something like Norman.

"Thanks for the ride, Boulder." Toph patted the older boy's shoulder and jumped out from the front seat. Aang raced to get out of the back seat and tripped over the edge of the truck while leaving. Boulder laughed and sped off.

"He's not coming with us?" Aang asked.

"Nah. He's gotta study for his upcoming science test. He really needs to graduate this year," Toph explained. "Didn't you hear him talking about it?" Aang was too distracted by the entire rebellion idea to hear him.

Aang nodded and finally turned his attention to the house they were dropped off at. It was larger than he and Toph's houses, but the more obvious difference was the blaring music and colorful lights virtually radiating off of it.

"Who would host a party like this in the middle of the night?"

"Your BFF, Zuko, actually," Toph grinned. "I got a drunken call from Sokka- he was trying to call someone else- telling me to come to this _rager_ that Zuko had invited him and Katara to."

"And he didn't invite us? We literally just hung out with him!" Aang frowned as he stared more intently at the teenagers drunkenly wandering around the yard.

"I have a feeling it wasn't supposed to be this big… Also, you're like 14."

"We're both 15, Toph. I'm like two week younger than you." Aang's voice was laced with annoyance, but that tough demeanor quickly changed as he hesitated to walk through the door.

Toph laughed, pushing him out of the way to walk in front of him. "Come on, Aang. It's your first big party! Don't let _God_ or _sin_ or whatever scare you for something as silly as this."

"I'm not scared." He crossed his arms, thinking about how sneaking out in the middle of the night to go to a "rager" wasn't silly.

Instantaneously, a dark figure stepped in front of them, prompting a scream to emit from Aang's mouth.

At a second glance, the pair realized it was just Zuko's sister, Azula, in a dark spot. Granted, the girl was scary on her own, enough to rival Toph's toughness.

"I don't believe you are old enough to be drinking, pipsqueaks." Azula stared them down.

"Neither are you. You're just as old as us," Toph countered, stepping in front of Aang in a half-effort to protect him from Azula. Aang wasn't complaining. Toph was only guessing Azula's age since the older girl was actually in a year above them. Azula had to be compensating for something.

It was a good thing Toph was right. Azula pursed her lips, ready to say something back, sloshing the drink in her hand when she stepped forward, when the jumpy pink one (in Toph's words) came and dragged her away.

"Whoo, that was a close one, huh, Twinkletoes?" Toph turned to see her friend practically shaking at the knees.

"Y-yeah… Good thing Ty Lee came…" He wiped his forehead.

"And that she was tipsy," Toph snorted, smirking at Aang's composure.

"Aang, Toph? What're _you_ guys doin' here?"A familiar voice turned their attention to the right where Sokka was standing up while the group he was with was sitting down in a circle. Suki attempted to get him to sit back down by tugging at his pants. It was obvious his girlfriend was a bit a tipsy, but she was nowhere near the state Sokka was in.

"Sokka! Who would have thought I'd see you here?" Toph sniggered, grabbing Aang's wrist to pull him over to the group.

Aang took it upon himself to sit between Sokka and Katara, but Toph wiggled herself between him and Katara. He realized a moment later (after Sokka began speaking again about nothing) that she didn't want to have to sit next to Sokka.

On the other side of Katara was Zuko, who sat beside Azula's friend, Mai. Between Suki and Mai was another boy that Aang had never seen before that night.

"I told Sokka not to drink," Katara whispered to Toph, though she was sure even if she had shouted it, Sokka wouldn't have realized what she had said. "Of course, he doesn't listen to me. It doesn't help that Suki _'doesn't mind'_ a drink or two."

"Why are we sitting in a circle?" Aang asked since no one was explaining anything.

Zuko shrugged. "We want to play a game, but we don't know what."

"Oh!" Suki clapped her hands together. "Guys, let's play _Truth or Dare_."

"Isn't that kind of… 2005?" Mai asked, her head resting onto her hand.

"And for Middle schoolers?" the unknown boy that sat beside Suki asked.

"You never know what happens when you play these games, guys!" Suki grabbed an empty bottle that had rolled behind her. "Just give it a chance, Jet."


	7. Chapter 6

"Have you ever heard of this guy?" Aang whispered to Toph as Suki explained the very simple game to Jet and Mai (Toph didn't understand why they were even taking time to explain it when they could be getting straight to the action).

"He's my ex…" Katara muttered, rubbing her arm, after Toph shrugged.

Aang couldn't hold back the jealousy in his voice as he repeated, "Your ex?"

"Yeah, I have this thing for older guys I guess. He's graduating this year," Katara laughed. She didn't notice Aang's new demeanor towards the intimidating-looking boy.

"Like Zuko…" Aang heard Toph say. He responded by flicking her wrist. Katara made no reaction to her comment.

Zuko raised his hand in an attempt to get everyone's attention, but the action made Aang skeptical on the teenager's drink count of the night. "I'm just letting everyone know… I'm not kissing a guy."

"I'd rather not either," Aang admitted meekly after realizing that would be one of the first dares if he didn't say something.

"What?" Sokka cried out. "You guys don't get the more the love- the merrier!"

"Sokka, I don't think-" Aang tried.

"Yeah, I'm not against mixing it up a little," Jet agreed, tilting his head to the side and grinning. It was a move that would normally make Suki (and other normal teenage girls) swoon, but Suki was too upset at the direction the conversation took to notice.

"That's not the _point_ of the game, guys," Suki said in exasperation, letting out a sigh. "We just try to make each other admit our darkest secrets or do embarrassing things."

Zuko nodded fervently. "Like kissing other dudes. I'm not going to do it." He crossed his arms.

"I'm just going to start it before everyone here either starts fighting or crying," Toph said in reference to Sokka and Suki respectively. The freshman grabbed the bottle and spun. It eventually landed on owner of the house they were sitting in. "Alright, Sparky, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he said before she could even finish the question. It seemed he wasn't taking the chance that he might have to lock lips with another guy.

"Why the hell did you decide to throw a raging party and not invite me?" She added, "or Aang?" after said person nudged her in the ribs.

Zuko rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Azula made it a 'rager.' I just wanted to hang out with a couple of my friends. I don't even _know_ where Lee went now." His face scrunched up to show off his irritation.

Toph nodded in satisfaction and rolled the bottle closer to Zuko. The game went on like that for a while. Most people picked truths, but Sokka insisted on picking dare every time. Jet had made the most interesting dare where Sokka had ended up in his underwear by the end of it. However, Suki's dare that Jet kiss Katara was second to it. Aang had to look away.

Overall, Toph and Aang were left alone by the game and probably because everyone else looked at them as younger than they even really were.

That is until Toph decided taking a dare from a drunken Sokka was a good idea. (She never thought it was a good idea, she countered later. She just thought it would be interesting to see what he would come up with).

Sokka giggled and clapped his hands as he came up with a "brilliant" dare. "How 'bout yooouu," he slurred, "and your new boooyyyfriend show us just how _in love_ you are with each other with a kiss?"

His request immediately made both fifteen-year-olds turn beet-red, Jet laugh, and Suki shout "WOO!" while throwing her hands in the air, mumbling something about things getting sexier in here.

Toph could have sworn Sokka was really daring her from the way he was staring her down. That he knew their relationship wasn't real... And if Sokka knew that their relationship wasn't real than he would have nothing to be jealous of. That was the only reason she really kept the act up, for the slim chance she could still attract his attention back to her.

And she wasn't about to back down now. Not now- not ever would Toph Bei Fong back down from a fight.

Aang, on the other hand, was feeling fluttering in his stomach at the thought of kissing his best friend. His first thought was that he would mess it up in front of everyone, but he told himself quickly he didn't want Katara to think it was that serious.

"Toph and I haven't actually even kissed yet, so I would rather not-"

Aang's nervous babbling was cut short by Toph's determination.

This was never what Aang's pictured his real first kiss to be like (considering it wasn't like the two hadn't kissed when they were young children experimenting). Recently, he had imagined it being after Katara's ardent speech that she never realized how much she needed Aang in her life and that she wouldn't be able to live without him. Then, he would respond to her by taking her in a passionate embrace and finally kissing his dream girl.

However, this was not what he had imagined and it was certainly different from the fleeting pecks from years before. Truthfully, he forgot that this was the girl he had met when they had just gotten out of diapers and was instead overcome with a warm feeling inside of him that he wasn't quite sure what it was. It seemed, over the years, movies and instinct had given her a better idea of what a real kiss was like. He was only brought back to Earth when the others (AKA Sokka and Suki) began to cheer, so Toph threw herself off of him just as quickly as she latched herself on him. Aang was left in a daze for a moment.

"Aww, they're really in love," Sokka said with hearts in his eyes, squealing in excitement.

That was when Toph realized Sokka wasn't testing her. He was just drunk and wanted to see some other teenagers make out. It probably wouldn't even be long before he started to make out with his own girlfriend. Her fast-beating heart began to ache again, for what she wasn't sure anymore, but it was a sensation that she didn't want to feel at that moment. And, as usual, she would do whatever she could to make it go away before she had to deal with it.

The game continued on as normal for another 20 minutes before Sokka got distracted and left with Suki following him. Mai and Zuko used that opportunity to escape and talk somewhere else, so all that was left was Jet, Katara, Toph, and Aang.

Toph still wasn't over the second hit of heartbreak and had managed to keep her composure long enough, but her hands were shaking now. So she hit Aang's shoulder and left to go drink _anywhere_ she could find alcohol. Aang didn't even think about where she might have gone.

"Hey, Aang?" Katara surprised him. "Can I talk to you about something?"

* * *

 **Oof, I'm having a hard time writing right now, but I think I improved this chapter significantly from what it was before (not that any of you know what it was like before, but it was lacking a lot of detail) and I'm prouder of it. I wish I had the inspiration to write my other stories right now, but I'm not feeling it. I think I can get my groove back soon (hopefully!).  
**

 **Just a reminder that I would really appreciate it if anyone could take the time to vote on the poll on my profile! I really want to start brainstorming soon for my next story because I think it'll help me get out of this writing funk :)**

 **Thank you very much for reading! Please review, I love reading all of them (even if they point out some negatives- I love to improve!).**


	8. Chapter 7

**Just a reminder to please vote on the poll on my profile and many thanks to those who do!  
**

* * *

"What's up?" Aang asked with a grin on his face. He knew what Katara was going to say to him. It was time. The ardent speech! The passionate embrace! His first- well, second kiss! And it was here on the back patio of Zuko's house that had a beautiful view! It would be just like in the movies!

"Nothing really, I just needed an excuse to get away from Jet," Katara laughed, moving a piece of her hair from her face. Aang felt his heart sink. "But I also thought it's been a while since we really got to talk."

Aang let out a nervous giggle, trying not to look disappointed by looking away. "No, yeah. I get it. We can talk about whatever you want."

The darker-skinned girl looked out at the sky, gazing at the stars. "So… That was your first kiss from what I gather?"

"Yeah…" He admitted, scratching his neck.

"I'm sorry, I should have stopped it once I heard that, but I've been kind of distracted tonight... Was it bad? I remember my first kiss," she began to laugh, thinking of the memory. "God, it was terrible. Neither of us knew what we were doing. We broke up a week after."

"No, it wasn't bad. It was _different_ than what I expected, but it wasn't bad per se." He paused for a moment to see if Katara was going to say anything else and when she didn't, he asked tentatively, "Was your first kiss with Jet?"

"No," Katara shrugged. "Actually, it was Zuko. We 'dated' for a month in middle school."

 _Oh._ Aang remembered Zuko and Mai had walked off together, so he asked her, "Are you alright?"

Katara ignored the question completely and instead told him, "You know, it's funny, I could have sworn you had a crush on me for like the entire year."

 _I did! I_ still _do!_ He wanted to say as soon as he heard her say that. This could be his chance. All he had to do was tell her… but that wouldn't be fair to Toph.

Wait! He and Toph weren't _actually_ dating. He could just explain that to Katara, right? And Sokka was already taken, so Toph was probably just dying to have to stop acting. She was probably just being nice so he could at least get his happy ending. And he had to say something before he missed his chance!

Katara spoke faster, "But it's alright. You're just a friendly guy. Honestly, you and Toph go so well together, a part of me pretty much knew already you guys would start dating eventually. I'm glad she got over her crush on Sokka before he started dating Suki."

Aang turned to her, surprised. "You knew about her crush on Sokka?" Her remark distracted him from his mission to win her over.

"Yeah. She told me a few months ago about when I found her in the bathroom trying to break her hand on the counter and almost drowning herself with how fast she was drinking from her water bottle. It was weird though because I brought it up another day and she acted like she didn't even remember that that had ever happened." Katara's eyes widened as she came to a realization. "Oh my god, do you think she was _drinking_?"

Aang rolled his eyes at the thought. "Toph wouldn't do that to herself... Why would she carry around a bottle full of alcohol?"

 _"My greatest memory was the first time my mom let me have a glass of wine. It was the best night of my life. For once I didn't have to let my parents get to me," she had joked and he laughed along._

He frowned. "Like, even if she did drink occasionally, she wouldn't make it a constant. Toph wouldn't let it reach to an obsession."

 _"Fuck! Fuck!" Toph shouted, tearing her room apart._

 _"What's wrong?"_

 _"I lost it! My water bottle!" Toph pushed past him to go to her bathroom, opening the cabinet doors with such force they almost came off their hinges._

 _"It's just a water bottle, Toph," he had said._

 _"And I'm screwed if my parents took it!"_

 _She found it later in her garden, stating that she must have dropped it there the night before, but heaven knows why she had decided to walk out there._

"And she wouldn't _still_ be drinking. I'd notice if she were drinking to the point that it was in public places like at school."

 _Toph had spent a long time in the bathroom on Monday night during the movie. Aang had assumed it was because of lady problems, especially because of her recent tampon joke. But now he remembered seeing her sleepily staggering back to collapse beside him. A few minutes later, her head rested on his shoulder, prompting him to actually watch the movie. She had a "raging headache" when he tried to wake her up the next morning._

And now they were at a party full of drunken teenagers with a plethora of alcohol to go around.

"Sorry, Katara, I have to go," Aang said, already running back inside. Katara called out to him, asking what was wrong, but he was too far away to hear her by then.

The freshman dodged and weaved between the sweaty, clumsy bodies of other teenagers as he beat himself over not coming to realize what Toph's lovable water bottle was before. And he was running farther away from his goal of winning over his dream girl.


	9. Chapter 8

_There._ Toph was standing, beer bottle in hand, chatting up the genius from their math class, Satoru.

Without thinking, Aang knocked the bottle out of her hand, splashing both her and Satoru.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She tried wiping at her shirt before looking up. Once she saw it was Aang, she asked through gritted teeth, "What are you even doing here? Didn't I leave you back there with your _girlfriend_?"

Satoru responded with a similar attitude. "What's your deal, man?"

Aang ignored the both of them and grabbed Toph by the forearm, dragging her around the corner. It was the first time he had been forceful with her and it probably surprised her enough (along with the drinking) that she didn't even attempt to struggle.

Without meaning to, Aang had caused Toph to stumble back into the wall when he let go, making her hit her head.

"Shit! Watch it, Twinks…" She put a hand up to the wound.

"I'm sorry, Toph. God, I don't know what I'm doing…" He held his face in his hands, rubbing his temples as he attempted to focus. "Are you OK?"

Toph didn't respond, she only stared at the ground, rubbing her head. She didn't even seem to realize that Aang was there anymore.

"Toph!" His call startled her back to Earth. When her eyes had managed to focus on him, he asked carefully, "Do you… Are you an alcoholic?"

She bit her lip. "I _mean_ , what counts as an alcoholic?"

Aang's confusion suddenly burst into anger. "Carrying a water bottle around full of alcohol! Drinking during school! Drinking alcohol to the point that you blackout on a regular basis!"

Toph flinched. With a tremble in her voice like a child who was caught, she said, "Uh, yeah, I might be…"

She wasn't in a state that he could talk to her. He needed to get her home now. _Shit._ How were they going to get home? Sokka couldn't drive, he was drunk, and the last time he saw Zuko, he also had a red solo cup in his hand.

"Toph, give me your phone," he ordered. His only chance now was to hope _Boulder_ was still up studying for his science test. The girl handed it to him wordlessly.

He clumsily typed in her pass code as he held her hand and led her through the crowd. It was open to her photos. She had managed to snag a photo of the two of them in the middle of a roller coaster ride once. He remembered freaking out that she would risk her phone flying and never finding it.

No, he couldn't look at this right now; he something more important to focus on right now. He exited out of the app and went to her recent calls. Right above Sokka's drunken call was a call to Boulder. He managed to push to the outside with Toph still in tow.

"Aang, are… you mad?" Toph asked innocently. He looked up from her phone screen to see tears falling from her eyes.

His mouth gaped. It was a 180 from Toph's normally tough-girl attitude where she enjoyed bossing people around and proving her worth on a daily basis. Now, she was silently crying in front of him, obviously in some mental turmoil. Alcohol was a depressant.

"No! I mean, I'm a little upset, but right now I just want to get you home, OK?" He explained to her. She nodded, using the hand Aang wasn't holding to wipe away the teardrops on her face.

Aang tapped Boulder's number to dial him.

"Hello?" He answered after a few rings.

"Uh, hey, Boulder. It's Aang."

There was some rustling on the other end that made him think that he had woke him up. It _was_ past 1 in the morning.

"My phone says this is Toph Bei Fong."

"I know, I'm using her phone." Aang rolled his eyes. "Listen, I need you to come pick us up again. We need to get home right now because Toph is… sick." He had the impulse to talk to the older man as though he were a child.

"OK!" was the enthusiastic response. Then, Boulder hung up and Aang could only hope that he was going to actually come.

Meanwhile, Toph had stopped crying, but looked as though she were on the verge of passing out. How much had she managed to drink in the 20 minutes he was gone? Maybe not that much. She could have just been tired.

 _He_ was tired. This night have teenage rebellion had turned out so much different then he had hoped. Even if he didn't get the confession he wanted from Katara, he was hoping it would at least be a fun night of breaking the rules. He didn't expect to discover that his best friend was an alcoholic.

Where was Boulder?


	10. Chapter 9

**Just a reminder to vote on my poll (I currently have a tie between three...)**

* * *

For the second time that week, Toph found herself waking up in bed sheets that were not her own. More specifically, they were her best friend Aang's sheets.

She had a raging headache.

Toph sat up trying to figure out what happened the night before and how she had ended up back in his room when she clearly remembered going to her own room last night. At some point she even put on party clothes from what she could see. Then, she saw her phone on the night stand and recalled the drunken phone call from Sokka. And calling Boulder. And convincing Aang to come to the party (which was a lot easier than she had expected it to be). Then, there was the truth or dare game… but she couldn't remember it even ending.

"Toph?" Aang's voice was painful to her ears but she sucked it up and turned towards him. He had just walked in and was now lingering in the doorway, still wearing his pajamas.

"Can you whisper please?" She asked him. Her voice was hoarse, probably from spending the night shouting.

He nodded and sat down on the bed. "Toph, I'm worried about you."

"What? Why?"

"You don't remember any of our conversation last night? At Zuko's house?"

She tried thinking back, but the most she could remember was saying something to Satoru. "No… What was it about?"

In the back of her mind, Toph already knew what it was about. It would only be so long before Aang figured it out, especially when she almost openly mentioned it around him. Maybe subconsciously she wanted him to figure it out, but right now her heart beat fast in fear that she would lose it. She knew it was wrong, but it was her only coping method.

Where was her water bottle now?

"Toph, I know what's in your water bottle."

And there was the pain in her chest.

"Aang-"

"I don't really need an explanation for it, Toph… And I'm not mad at you. But I want you to get better." He moved to sit closer to her. " _Please_ , I'd do anything for you to feel better. A-and I'm here for you if you need my help, but I'm not going to force it on you."

Toph felt tears building up. _No._ She only cried when she was drunk; why was she crying now?

Despite Toph not saying anything, not even showing a hint of agreement, Aang gathered her in his arms and let her cry softly on his shoulder.

One thing they both felt was that they were _over_ teenager rebellion.

* * *

 **Very short chapter, but at least you got a bit of Toph's perspective (I don't know why I naturally write from Aang's). Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	11. Chapter 10

"Alright, so what's the first step to getting better?" Toph asked ten minutes later, now laying back down with a rag over her eyes to block out any and all light.

"Uhh, I don't actually know that," Aang said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I'm guessing I should actually start putting water in my water bottle."

"That would be good. Oh! Speaking of, I'm going to get you some water. You need to stay hydrated!" Aang said in a more chipper voice than it was earlier. Toph could only guess that he was excited she was on the path to helping herself. What a goofball he was.

In what seemed to be a heartbeat later, Aang returned with a glass of water that Toph found herself dying to have since she just now realized how dry her mouth was.

"Ok, drinking water. What's step 2?"

"How about… talking to me about why you started drinking in the first place?" He asked carefully. "You don't have to; I told you before. But it might help."

There was a silence as Toph tried to remember the original reason for it. "I don't know… It was just an occasional drink before. Just to take the edge off after my parents were done being disappointed in me for the day. Or just to mess around on the computer and be able to relax without thinking about everything else in the world. Because when I'm drinking, it's harder to focus." She took in a deep breath, recalling all the memories. "Eventually, I thought if I was at least a little buzzed when they yelled at me, it wouldn't affect me as much. So, I carried around the water bottle to be prepared. But I would hear it in my head even when I wasn't home, so I'd start drinking in public too…." Her breath caught in her throat. "I'm sorry, Aang."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Toph. I just wish you came to me- or anyone- for help. Or even to talk."

"I thought about it. There were times I was dying to tell you what I was doing. But it'd come out as a joke or I just couldn't tell you straight. To be honest, I thought you would tell me to _look at the bright side_ if I did… because that's what you're always doing."

That hit Aang in the heart. "No, Toph, I'm sorry if I ever came off like that. I would never try and tell you your feelings weren't real or to not feel them." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Toph, I… I care about you too much to put you to the side like that."

She smiled. "Thank you." She squeezed his hand in appreciation before taking her hand back to remove the cloth from her face and sit up. "So… did you get a chance to talk to Katara last night?"

"Actually, yeah." He let out a small laugh, recalling it. "And I think our plan might actually be working because- you want to guess what she said to me?"

"Did she say 'Aang, I'm desperately in love with you and if you don't rip off my clothes right now-'"

"Okay, I'm cutting you off there. No. She said she thought I had a crush on her for most of the year."

Toph rolled her eyes. "OK. I thought you had a crush on Katara too; what does that mean?"

"It was the way she said it, OK? Like, she was almost _hopeful_ that I would confirm it."

"So, are we still pretending to date?" Toph asked. Her eyes widened as she remembered all the events from the truth or dare the night before. " _Oh my god_ , I kissed you last night."

Aang blushed. "Yeah, but it's alright. Part of the act. It doesn't really have to count as our first kisses, you know?"

"Who ever said that was my first kiss?" Toph teased, smiling. "Just because you don't get action doesn't mean I don't."

"What? You would have told me if you kissed anyone!" Aang retaliated, trying to make it seem like he didn't believe it, but a part of him was afraid she had. "I see through your façade, Toph."

"Ooo, fancy words. Someone's afraid he's lagging a bit behind, huh?" Toph continued with the teasing.

Aang held his hands up. "OK, fine. Let's say you have kissed someone. Who was it?"

"Satoru and I seemed pretty close last night, huh? We talk sometimes when you're not around…" This statement was not entirely true. Satoru and her had maybe said three sentences to each other since the night before, but she thought they were pretty in-depth in their conversation.

"Satoru? Are you kidding? That guy probably has the social skills of a gorilla. There's no way you found time to bond with him and _kiss_ him without me knowing."

Toph opened her mouth to counter with how Aang seemed to not notice she had been drinking for the past year, but decided it was probably going to be a sore subject for both of them for a while. Instead she said, "Yikes. Us dating was supposed to make Katara jealous, not you."

"I'm not jealous! I just don't think it's possible that your first kiss was with Satoru," Aang insisted. "I think your first kiss was with me and you're trying to _make_ me look jealous."

"I thought last night didn't count? My first kiss couldn't be with you if we've never had an actual kiss."

Aang clenched his jaw while trying to think of a way to reason with this infuriating woman.

He knew the only way he could win this argument. He grabbed the sides of her face and pressed his lips onto hers. Toph found herself eagerly kissing back.

This time Aang wasn't in his thoughts but in the kiss and he took in every part of it. Aang could still taste a faint amount of alcohol from the night before, but she smelled like the flower garden behind her house. Her lips were soft unlike the rough hands he had been holding just a few minutes didn't move from the kiss and it only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed to last eternity.

"Aang, are you awake yet?" Gyatso's call from downstairs made them pull away from each other. "Can you come downstairs and help me, please?"

Aang and Toph looked at each other. They both had blushes. Aang ran downstairs without saying anything else.


	12. Chapter 11

**Uh, so my poll? Please vote. (Please.**

 **Also I went to reorganize all the chapters so I could find them easier (I had them named random things) and I realized that I did not have 17 chapters, but 15 chapters including the prologue and epilogue. So, yeah. That made a lot more sense.**

* * *

 _Sent To: Toph  
Hey, my dad is going to drop me off at school early. I'll see you later. _

_Sent To: Twinkletoes  
ok_

Aang hadn't seen Toph since Saturday morning and he wasn't sure how to interact with her after their kiss. Was she angry at him for it? He'd understand that. She _had_ gotten drunk the night before because she had to watch the guy she was in love with hang around his new girlfriend. And then her best friend goes and kisses her just to prove a point? He'd be mad at himself too. In fact, Aang was pretty sure he _was_ mad at himself for it.

However, the reply to his text let him know she wasn't giving him the silent treatment, which provided him a little bit of comfort.

Still, he didn't know what he was supposed to say to her. It wasn't like he had feelings to admit to her. Aang had a crush on _Katara._ _She_ was his dream girl, right?

So, why was he speed-walking to the library to find Katara and talk to her? Why did he feel like he needed closure?

Aang bursted through the double doors, attracting the attention of studying students.

"Uh… Aang?"

The boy turned to see his crush standing behind the counter, holding a thin book in her hands. His expression immediately turned a 180 from tense to leisure. "H-Hey, Katara. How's it popping?"

Katara laughed. "I'm just checking in some books. What are you doing that has you in such a hurry?"

Aang made a point to _casually_ walk closer to the desk, until he could _lazily_ rest his arm against the counter. "I'm not in a hurry. I'm just a determined guy…?" His statement turned into a question at the end as he wondered whether that made any sense. He quickly recomposed himself when he saw Katara frown. "I just wanted to hang out with you this morning, ya know. See how you're doing."

She smiled in appreciation. "That's sweet of you, Aang. I have nothing going on though; sorry to be such a bore." She paused as she remembered something. "Don't you and Toph carpool? Where is she?"

"Toph?"

"Yeah… Toph. Your girlfriend of, what, a week now?" She picked up another stack of books from the floor to scan. "It's funny. It definitely seems like it's been longer than a week."

"You can say that again," Aang mumbled, rolling his eyes at the ground.

"What?"

"Toph has an appointment," he lied as he watched her hands masterfully scan the stack of books. "She'll be getting here late. So… listen, I just have a quick question."

Katara scanned her last book, set her head in her hands, and said, "Go for it."

"You remember at the party-"

"Oh my gosh! The party! Where did you guys go? I knew there was something I forgot. Is Toph OK? Is that why she has an appointment?" Katara interrupted him as she broke down into her worry-wort mode.

"Toph is fine! It's just an eye appointment. We got home safe. No need to worry." Aang raised his eyebrows and held up his hands, making sure Katara would calm down. The girl responded by nodding and letting out a deep breath. "Why did you tell me you thought I had a crush on you?" He asked before anything else could happen.

Katara bit her lip as she revealed a nervous smile. "Listen, it's really no big deal. I thought I had a bit of crush on you, but I was a little embarrassed by it because I normally date older guys. Which is a stupid reason, I know, but I've realized recently that I don't have _romantic_ feelings for you. Especially, after seeing you run after Toph."

Aang gaped. "Uh-" He cleared his throat. "Why would that specific occasion make you realize that you _don't_ have feelings for me?"

"Well, it occurred to me that I was caring for you and Toph the same way." Katara shrugged. "So, I guess it's good I never tried to jump into a relationship with you. It would have ended badly and then things between you and Toph could be _radically_ different."

The boy blushed as he remembered Saturday morning, but the blush quickly fell when he thought of Toph's confession of her alcoholism. "Yeah, things could be totally different."

"Why do you ask?" Her head tilted.

 _You could tell her now, Aang! Maybe she's protecting herself from her feelings by lying to herself. She still has feelings for you! Just tell her this whole thing was a ploy to make her jealous… but phrase it differently so it sounds sweet and romantic!_

 _And then what? What do you tell Toph? "Oh yeah, that kiss was_ only _because I wanted to win the argument and had_ no _underlying reasons whatsoever. Sorry, buddy."_

 _Underlying reasons? What, are you saying now you have a crush on_ Toph _of all people?_

 _No way! Toph is just my best friend. She's funny and she cares for me, but that's all it's about. She's just a pretty girl who understands me and who I want to care for as long as I can._

"Aang?" Katara's voice broke him away from the multiple voices debating in his head. "Are you alright? You look at little pale." She reached over the counter to try and put the back of her hand on his forehead.

Aang stepped back, out of her reach. "I'm fine. I think I just went to the wrong person for confirmation."

And Aang walked out of there feeling much more confused than when he was running in.


	13. Chapter 12

"Hey, Toph!" Katara stopped the younger girl when she noticed her walking alone in the hallway. It was strange since, even before the two were dating, she and Aang seemed to be connected at the hip. "How are you?"

Toph gave her a funny look. "I'm fine, Sugar Queen. Are _you_ OK?"

Katara smiled. "Yeah, I'm doing well. I'm having some boy troubles, but I'm sure you know what that's like."

"Not really. Why would I? I've never dated anyone." Toph caught her mistake quickly enough for her to add, "Before."

"So, you and Aang aren't having couple troubles at all?" Katara frowned. Aang's panicked questions from that morning made her think that the cute couple was on the edge of blowing up.

 _Is she being hopeful or worried?_ Toph wasn't sure how to respond to her. If she said yes, maybe Aang's vision of the two getting together would come true, but if Katara wasn't being hopeful than she would have to deal with Sugar Queen's incessant talking for the next week as she tried to solve their _fake_ problems.

Toph weighed her options and went with "No," and plastered a smile on her face. "Twinkletoes and I are actually getting along better than I thought I would." Which wasn't necessarily a lie. The past week or so had really brought the best friends together. If Toph didn't have Aang… well, she was sure she would probably be in a worse place than she was. The only issue was Saturday morning.

Katara looked ecstatic about her answer. _Sorry, Aang_. "Hey, why don't we keep talking on our way to your next class. The teacher in my next class doesn't notice when people come in late until it's 15 minutes after the bell rang." Katara nudged Toph to keep walking in the direction she was originally traveling.

" _You're_ willing to miss some of your class? I didn't realize I was such a popular kid," Toph said with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's just been so long since we got to have a heart-to-heart," Katara confessed. "And I wanted to apologize for my brother daring you and Aang to kiss. I should have stopped it once Aang said it would have been your first kiss, but I wasn't thinking."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Chill out, Sugar Queen. We don't even count _that_ kiss as our first one."

"Does that mean there was another one?"Toph heard the hopeful tone in Katara's voice this time.

The younger girl blushed after realizing what her statement implied.

Why was she embarrassed? Weren't she and Aang dating? They were _allowed_ to kiss. Except it was a big deal because the friends didn't _actually_ like each other. It was all an act. The kisses were just part of the show. Their agreement to date in an effort to attract their crushes made the rules _so_ confusing.

"Yepp!" Toph said to her in a louder voice than she intended (not that anyone thought it was unusual since Toph was always yelling). "We've kissed since then. As couples do. They kiss. Hey, you know what, Katara? Why don't you tell me about your boy problems?" The freshman was eager to get the spotlight off of herself.

It was Katara's turn to blush. "It's nothing really… I just have a bit of a crush on a guy, but I'm pretty sure he likes someone else. And to avoid making things awkward, I've been trying to push him away, but I think I'm just making things worse for myself."

Toph sighed. _Sorry, Twinkletoes._ "Is it Zuko?"

Katara's face turned red. "How would-"

"It's very obvious, Katara. Plus, Zuko's crushing on you either just as hard or harder than you're crushing on him," Toph told her. "I could be blind and still be able to tell."

Her friend laughed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Jeez, it's like everyone but the people involved can tell when they're in love with each other."

"Yeah… Can I confess something that's a little morally grey?"

Toph nodded, intrigued. "I would love to hear something else morally grey that you've done other than going to class late."

"I won a bet with Suki over when you and Aang would start dating," Katara blurted out, covering her mouth with her hands after she finished.

The other girl's excitement turned into agitation. "Why does everyone keep _saying_ that about me and Aang? Aang and I are just really good friends."

Katara frowned. "Well, you guys _are_ dating now, but it's like you said. Everyone but the people involved can tell I guess. You guys just got along so well despite being so different. It's, like, refreshing to see two people care and support each other the way you both do."

"That doesn't mean we're in love with each other."

"I could tell. I'm sure you've seen by now the way Aang looks at you when you're facing the other direction. Toph, he _adores_ you."

Toph felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of Aang looking at her like she was… like she was Katara! Her embarrassment continued to channel into anger and her voice was becoming more aggressive. "And what about me, huh? Did you guys just _assume_ that I was into Aang because he was _supposedly_ into me?"

"I'm going to admit, it was a bit of a guess with you because you show affection differently, but I _know_ it's hard for you to trust people. Aang is the person you trust the most, so if there was anyone you were going to be 'into,' it would be Aang," Katara explained. "Especially since you got over your crush on Sokka."

"That's-! That's ridiculous! And impossible!" Toph tried her best to deny what Katara said, but in her heart she knew it was all true. Aside from Sokka, Aang would have been the first person Toph would want to date if she was forced to choose. He _was_ the person she trusted the most. And there was no denying that Aang would probably kiss her feet if she asked him to.

Maybe there _was_ more to that popular theory that she and Aang were dating other than the fact that they were always together.

* * *

 **SO, the next chapter is the last (other than the epilogue).**

 **Fun fact: This was originally a chapter where Toph had a fight with her parents, but after writing the chapter after that one, I was afraid the story was going to be unnecessarily long. So, instead, I figured Katara could give another push to the relationship ;)**

 **Feel free to review! Thank you so much for reading :)**


	14. Chapter 13

Aang looked up from his textbook once he noticed another presence. "Toph?"

He had not seen his friend since that morning in their first period. After that, she disappeared for the rest of the day without reason. He texted her, but had yet to receive a reply. Now, she was standing at the door to his bedroom. He stood up to speak with her.

"Twinkletoes, would you kiss my feet if I asked you to?"

Aang was taken aback. "Would I… what?" He noticed the water bottle in her hand. "Toph, are you-"

She shook her head. "It's water, don't worry. You can smell it if you want." She held it out to him.

"No, I trust you... but can we go back to what you just asked me?" Aang knew what she said; he was more curious about the motive.

Toph ignored him. "Aang, I need you to be honest with me right now because I'd like things to stop being so confusing. It's just really important to me."

He frowned. "Yeah, of course. What's wrong?" He stepped closer to her.

"Are you in love with me?"

Aang froze before he felt himself begin to laugh nervously without being able to control it. "In love with you? Why- why would you ask me that?" He stuttered.

Toph swallowed. "Aang, you're not answering my question." She could feel her lip quiver in anticipation for his response. What he said could make or break their relationship... and she wasn't sure which answer would.

"I mean, of course I love you. You're my best friend. I want you to live a good life and I care about you…"

"Stop it!" Toph walked up to him and pointed into his chest. Her eyes looked directly at it because she couldn't find the courage to see the expressions on Aang's face. "You know what I mean. Just tell me: Are you in love with me? Romantically? Like you want to kiss me and take me out on dates and hold my hand when there are other people around?" There was a sort of desperation to her voice.

Aang lowered his eyes, staring at the ground in between them. With a hint of shame, he admitted, "Yes." It was a very recent revelation for himself in fact. He supposed he already knew subconsciously why his heart beat faster when she was near and why when he would drift off into daydreams, sometimes he would think about how pretty she was or when he couldn't help himself from admiring her when she wasn't looking. It never really connected in his brain what his feelings for her had really come to because it felt so natural, so it wasn't until that morning when he had the conversation with Katara that he realized.

Katara was a crush, but he was _in love_ with Toph. And every moment that he held her hand in front of other people for the dating act or otherwise, he almost felt… proud. Like, _That's right- she's mine_. But Toph wasn't his and he had no idea if she had any interest in ever being his. He had hoped he would have more time to figure out his feelings.

Toph's face froze. He wasn't sure if she was happy or upset about his response. Even when she asked out loud, "Am _I_ in love with you?" he couldn't tell what she truly wanted to hear.

Aang waited for Toph to say something else, but she didn't. Instead, she looked up at him, impatient for an answer. Quietly, he told her,"I can't answer that for you, Toph."

Toph frowned and she bit her lip. She looked around the room almost frantically as though she were looking for something that would help her understand her dilemma.

"Toph, what are you looking-Mm!"

Without reason or warning, Toph dropped her water bottle on the ground and wrapped her arms around Aang's neck to bring his lips towards hers. Her hands eagerly grasped his hair to keep him focused on her (which Aang had no problem with).

Without the taste of alcohol, kissing Toph was sweet. Like, she literally tasted as though she had eaten a package of gummi worms. Her lips were still soft and inviting enough that they encouraged Aang to grab her by the waist to keep her there just for the chance that he could extend the moment a bit more.

Nothing could keep Toph Bei Fong in one place forever though and she pulled away from the kiss after it went on for about two minutes longer than she intended it to. She didn't say anything, but allowed Aang to lean his head on hers; they both breathed heavily now that they finally had air. She realized at some point she had been pushed up against his bookcase.

"So," Aang said after a minute of silence. "Did you like it?"He asked nervously.

Toph nodded. "I liked it the two other times we kissed."

"Me too."

She took a deep breath. "You've always been there for me, Aang. You care so much about me and I can't help but care about you. You're so selfless in some ways, that it's something I admire, but other times you don't hesitate to have fun and that's when we really connect. I know my life has been pretty shitty lately, but you've been there, holding my hand along the way without any complaints. And all of this just made me realize that I think I've been in love with you for a long time... even before we started fake dating."

"Romantically?" Aang asked with a small smirk on his face. "You want to kiss me and take me on dates and hold my hand?"

Toph buried her head in his chest, breathing in his smell; He smelled like leaves in the fall. "Yeah."

"Do we have to tell everyone we're dating again?"

"Shut up and hug me, Twinkletoes," she laughed.


	15. Epilogue

"Alright, Double Date: part dos," Sokka said as he scooted into the booth before Katara could. "This time I _didn't_ go ahead and invite anyone for you, Katara." Then he grumbled under his breath, "Even though you're _dating_ him now."

"Yes, thank you, Sokka," Katara replied pleasantly. "What did you guys want to talk about?"

Toph took the floor before anyone else could. "In celebration of Aang and I's six months of putting up with each other while holding hands," she said as she squeezed said boy's hand under the table. In her other hand, was a brand-new green water bottle (filled with water) that she had received as a gift from her boyfriend that day. She continued, "Aang wanted to drag us all to this diner and admit something to the both of you that he's felt guilty for- even though, I feel like there's nothing to even _be_ guilty about."

"Wasn't your six months like two weeks ago?" Katara asked as she tried to count the days on her fingers.

"That's actually what we wanted-" Aang started.

" _You_ wanted. _I_ think this is pointless," Toph corrected him.

Aang rolled his eyes. "Toph and I didn't start dating when you all thought we did. We started dating about two weeks after when we told everyone we started dating."

"What?" Sokka scoffed. "How does that work? I could see telling everyone you started dating _after_ you actually started, but why would you tell people ahead of time?"

Katara's eyes widened as she realized. "You guys were just faking it?"

"Yeah," Aang blushed. "At the time, Toph and I didn't even realize we were into each other-"

"Even though everyone else did," Toph grumbled as she attempted to cross her arms with Aang's hand still in hers.

"-but I guess being in the situation _made_ us realize." Aang shrugged.

Sokka asked, "No offense, but what does that have to do with us?"

"Why were you guys pretending?" Katara questioned.

Tophl laughed. "Oh my gosh, you both are so oblivious."

"I was crushing on you at the time, Katara," Aang's said while looking down at the table.

Sokka's gasped as he connected two and two together. "Toph, you had a crush on me?"

"Are you being for real, Sokka?" Katara shook her head. "It was so obvious."

"You couldn't tell that Aang was crushing on you!"

" _Actually_ , I thought he was, but he and Toph started dating before I could ask him."

Sokka turned away from her and instead asked another question to the young couple. "So what? You guys started dating to make us jealous?"

"Actually, yeah," Aang answered. "That's exactly what the plan was."

"He came up with it himself," Toph pointed with her thumb. "Yet another plan an idealist has made, that a realist has predicted to end up badly."

Katara laughed. "It didn't end badly though. The both of you realized your feelings for each other."

"Yet another plan an idealist has made that a realist has predicted to end up badly," Toph repeated with a smirk on her face.

Sokka began to chuckle. "You all are so weird. Even Katara and Zuko danced around dating for way longer than they needed to. When are my friends going to be able to date like normal people?"

"Normal people is running out in the _middle_ of your girlfriend's basketball game dressed in a stolen mascot costume?" Toph said in reference to last week where Sokka got banned from the next two basketball games.

Sokka frowned. "Hey! I thought it was on break. It was an honest mistake."

Katara giggled. "Whatever you say, Sokka."

* * *

 **And that's it! I hope you guys enjoyed this adventure with me :)**

 **I loved writing it and sharing it with you all. It's the first multi-chapter story I've been able to finish, so that's nice. Maybe one day I can rewrite this because, while I've grown to like it, it definitely has room for improvement.**

 **Tell me what you thought about the story! What was your favorite moment in it? Did you think most of it was in character? What's another situation you would want me to write the Gaang in?**

 **(Also, for those wondering, the story that will be posted in place of this one (I always want to be posting three stories) will be "Total Drama: Next Generation". I'm going to finish writing a few more chapters of it and start posting!)**


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